Mission Critical

by Jonathan Strahan (Editor)

New anthology from the critically-acclaimed editor of Engineering Infinity.

SPACE IS DANGEROUS

The greatest threat, to those who dare venture among the stars, isn’t from aliens, or enemy nations, or cosmic forces from outside reality, but from the simple things on which our lives in space are built: the engines and control systems, the machines that provide our atmosphere, our gravity, even our food and water.

Mission Critical tells the stories of when the machines go wrong.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Space Opera, Space, Speculative Fiction

407 pages, ebook

First published July 9, 2019

Reviews

[Milton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Is Not The Way Home - 2
Rescue Party - 2
Devil In The Dust - 4
Hanging Gardens - 3
The One Who Was There - 2
By The Warmth Of Their Calculus - 3
Mutata Superesse - 4
The Empty Gun - 5
Gensong - 1
Something In The Air - 5
Lost in Splendour - 3
The Agreement - 3
The Fires of Prometheus - 4
Ice Breakers - 2
Cyclopterus - 3

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last few Infinity anthologies by Strahan have largely been pretty bad, with very few decent stories or in fact, very few actual stories that are not snippets from larger works or skiffy travelogues disguised as short stories. This new venture of his, fortunately, breaks with this line. People tend to complain about anthologies being “hit and miss”, but this one was a pretty even run for me. None of the stories were “blow my mind” material, yet none fall below “entertaining and well-written” either, with a few standouts from unexpected authors (de Bodard, Hamilton, Steele). A few of them do, however, really kind of bend the theme of the anthology quite a bit, but none of them break with it completely.

[Tomislav · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Jonathan Strahan’s latest anthology in kindle ebook format, because I appreciated his preceding “Infinity” series of anthologies, and this had a super-special sale price. He says in his forward that he was inspired by the film “The Martian” to put together an anthology of stories of a similar nature. The authors that participated, with all new stories, are mostly big names in hard-sf, as you can see from the list I’ve made below. The common theme is that most of the stories involve exploratory missions in reasonably realistic future settings, often with survival in the balance. One challenge in short story hard-sf is that it can take a lot of pages to lay out a science fiction writer’s innovative world and there isn’t room for that. There is reader work required for good world-building in a short story. The quality of these stories varies, but it tends toward the good side, especially for readers of a scientific or technical orientation – very similarly to the “Infinity” books. Here are some highly personal and opinionated ratings of the individual stories.

“This is Not the Way Home” by Greg Egan ***** - A touching story of extreme Lunar survival, very much in the spirit of The Martian. It involves the use of a Moravec skyhook.

“Rescue Party” by Aliette de Bodard * - A confusing mess of a story that hinges on the persuasiveness of the main character before an alien court, rather than scientific or technological problem solving.

“Devil in the Dust” by Linda Nagata **** – War against the RaVNs on Mars. Is there anything essentially human that would allow victory without assuming the same unhuman technology?

“Hanging Gardens” by Gregory Feeley **** – A bombardment of an isolationist community on Mars by orbiting mainstream human civilization leaves only a few children survivors. Told from the perspective of the children.

“The One Who Was There” by John Barnes *** - A journalist among the explorers of the Saturn system must find a new justification for her role.

“By the Warmth of their Calculus” by Tobias S. Buckell **** - A far future human civilization can continue to exist only so long as the Hunter-Killers don’t observe them. Survival may call for the most brutal of measures.

“Mutata Superesse” by Jason Fischer and Sean Williams ** - Humans genetically modified to have the skin of armadillos make good defenders for the Heavy Armour Squad. Not particularly realistic, but with lots of action.

“The Empty Gun” by Yoon Ha Lee **** - Kestre sa Elaya learns that there is no such thing as a free lunch when purchasing armaments to pursue revenge for her House. Far future, with technology that is not explained, but having a Yoon Ha Lee story will definitely increase the marketability of the anthology.

“Genesong” by Peter F. Hamilton **** - Closely follows the perspective of post-human comet miners from Venus, and their encounter with “Marauders” of a more traditional human nature. An interesting point of view for the story; the reader is left uninformed as to what the self-perspective of the Marauders might be.

“Something in the Air” by Carolyn Ives Gilman ***** - Arriving at a new planet, a small group of scientists encounters self-fulfilling discoveries, akin to wavefront collapse on a macroscopic scale. Not realistic, but effectively illustrates the non-intuitive nature of current physics, and the quandary that science works by discovery of what you think to look for.

“Lost in Splendour” by John Meaney **** - Hard-sf story about an exploration ship that passes through an interplanetary gate within the Solar System, to an unexpected and alien-inhabited world. The crew consist of on aging human leader and a crew of engineered young people. Innovative concepts kept coming, at a good pace.

“The Agreement” by Dominica Phetteplace *** – Nora dreams of going to Mars, but when she is finally selected, what she encounters is not the natural phenomenon expected. I found it difficult to believe in what is supposed to have transpired on Mars, without anything similar happening elsewhere in the human realm.

“The Fires of Prometheus” by Allen M. Steele **** – A dying prospector and former professor, steals away from hospice to become the first and possibly only human to land on deadly Io. This is the first-person story of the small crew dispatched to re-capture and save him.

“Ice Breakers” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch *** – Five years exploring for resources on the planet Xeunite, Maya has waited for the last minute to launch her rover out of a storm, when an escape pod crashes right next to her. Does she risk herself to attempt a rescue?

“Cyclopterus” by Peter Watts ***** - On a climate collapsing Earth, humanity’s last source of resources and refuge is in the ocean depths. A resentful submarine pilot is assigned by government to take a corporate explorer to identify strippable resources. A desperate setting, with an unhappy but maybe realistic ending.

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 I thoroughly enjoyed the previous collection by Jonathan Strahan that I read, and when I read that this one was based around accidents on missions, things going wrong and characters having to fix them in desperate situations, I was sold. The foreword tells the idea was born while watching the Martian, quoting the memorable words: 'I've got to science the shit out of this'. And if that is not the basis of a thrilling hard SF story then I don't know what is. Strahan found an interesting roster of authors willing to contribute, from old hands in the genre to up and coming authors, leading to a pleasant diversity. The diversity helps selling the collection as the theme is pretty 'old school'. Clarke and Asimov wrote this kind of story, I'm thinking of 'A fall of moondust' and other stories. They belong to my favorite types of stories, as I like characters being pushed to extremes in order to survive. And to get that coupled with more modern inspiration was a treat.
Greg Egan sets the tone with a tale about tourists being stranded on the moon when all hell breaks lose on earth. It was a bit old school in tone, but the circumstances were modern. Aliette de Bodard is always an author to look forward to, and she doesn't disappoint here. A weird world, full of layers based in history and culture, and lyrical, emotional descriptions. It's a world to let yourself sink down in and just enjoy taking it all in. I have to search out her longer work or solo collections! Linda Nagata has a very action driven tale, like a Hollywood movie, about soldiers fighting an investation on Mars, but with some pointed political undertones. i enjoyed this one a lot for its innovative action and spectacle. Gregory Feely puts children in peril on Mars. It was a pretty good tale, but nog very memorable to me. I enjoyed John Barnes' story 'The man who was there' where something goes wrong on Titan. It had a very human point of view, about a reporter who has to stay distant from the people he tells stories about. The action here has happened before the story began, and it's all about the fall out. Tobias S. Buckell adds a great imaginative story, taking place in another solar system, with human beings living in semi-organic space habitat. It's about the length people have to go to survive and how to hold on to your humanity and not fall back on the 'cold equations'. The story by Jason Fischer and Sean William adds a dab of humor, but not much more. Yoon Ha Lee's story of revenge is pretty good, but does not seem to fit in the theme of the collection. Also its outlandish piece of technology seems jarring in here. I did like the story by Peter F. Hamilton. It has a weird future culture based on biology, a character going to desparate lengths to gain the upper hand and a tense conclusion. A tale by a master of the genre. The story by Caroly Ives Gilman was another one I didn't really enjoy. Even though it contained prehistoric life forms. It didn't fit with the rest of the collection, the things that were happening were not really believable to me. John Meaney's tale took me to an interesting future and a fascinating planet, but it felt like a part of a larger whole, lacking answers to the larger questions. Not the best story in here by a long shot. Dominica Phetteplace's story is better, fitting with the theme. It loses some momentum as the story takes place over a long span of time, but I enjoyed the resolution. Not great per se, but it deserved its place here. Allen M. Steele does not really surprise with his story. It fits his style. Decent hard SF, but not really mind blowing. The story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is not mind blowing either, but it is a tense tale of survival on a planet with icy storms. Could have done with more of a revalation at the end for me. The collection ends with a tale by Peter Watts. It's great. It takes place under water, comments on the time we live in (Watts has a bit of a pessimistic, though sadly realistic view of what we do to our planet) and it sticks the landing. Great story. Have to read more by Watts! So, for everyone enjoying 'edge of your seat' tales of individuels going to extremes after the shit hits the fan, in the tradition of 'The Martian', this is a great collection of SF stories in the same vein.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Chance wouldn’t save them. If she left this to chance, they would die.”

The best SF anthology I’ve read in years. Most anthologies trade on famous names or unlikely “best of” claims; this one focuses on short stories and novelettes about what happens after a disaster. Admittedly inspired by Andy Weir’s The Martian. Nice cover art.

“It’s easy to make a ‘hard’ choice when the price is paid by someone else.”

No story rates less than three stars; a few are outstanding. “This is not the Way Home” harks back to the Golden Age of SF but with a protagonist for 21st century sensibilities.

“The adventure narrative brings the wrong people in the process, and wraps everything to keep them there.” Also true of manned warfare, but do you really want to give an AI life-or-death authority?

Perhaps unintentionally, the stories explore both sides of the man versus robot exploration models. “Devil in the Dust” makes the strongest case for taking humans out of exploration, but it also dramatically indicates how wrong that can go.

“The checkerboard-patterned LOX tank, 500 metres in diameter by 500 metres long.” Ridiculous, yet fundamental to the plot. Why transport (and risk damage from) such a quantity of liquid oxygen when it could generated on site? Besides, wouldn’t an established research station recycle and reclaim a high enough percentage to obviate such huge replenishments?

“The bodies were disposed of first, cost out the larger airlocks like so much useless refuse.” All that recyclable organic material?

“Science is all about personality. With the right one, your theories will succeed. With the wrong one, your reality will be ignored.”

[G.S. Jennsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uneven anthology with several fascinating highlights

Anyone who reads short story anthologies know the quality of stories will be uneven. Further, different styles appeal to different readers. For me, the highlights of MISSION CRITICAL were:
- "The Empty Gun" by Yoon Ha Lee (which I enjoyed enough to go buy Ninefox Gambit)
- "Genesong" by Peter F. Hamilton (an emotional, poignant departure from Mr. Hamilton's usual style)
- "Something in the Air" by Carolyn Ives Gilman (a flawed but fascinating twist on concepts of quantum entanglement and the nature of reality)
- "Lost in Splendour" by John Meaney (an often amusing take on generational divides and the things that make all of us human)
- "The Fires of Prometheus" by Allen M. Steele (a touching tale of living and dying in space)

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a rule, I really enjoy Strahan's anthologies, and this one intrigued me: the stories of when things go wrong. These are small stories and large, set in our near space and a very long way away - in time as well as space - and stories where not everything ends up well. You already know something is going to go wrong. 

I didn't love every story in the book; it's an anthology, so that's no surprise. To my own surprise I did not love the Greg Egan story that starts it: it was fine, but it didn't have quite the... flair... that I like from his work usually. Ah well. There were plenty of stories I did love. Linda Nagata's was in the vein of AI-gone-wrong, and I really enjoyed the characterisation. Gregory Feeley's is set on Mars, like Nagata's, with a completely different set of problems and hints at a whole bunch of background issues that intrigued me. Possibly not one to read if you're feeling sensitive about children in danger. Going way off into the distance, temporally and spatially, Tobias S Buckell sets up a really intriguing society and a problem that verges on a "Cold Equations" scenario. I loved the characters a lot, and would absolutely read a novel or three set in this place. 

Despite what the Goodreads page says, this book does not have an Alastair Reynolds story. To my disappointment, as you can imagine. There is, however, a Yoon Ha Lee story, and these days that pretty nearly makes me as happy. And "The Empty Gun" absolutely delivers in cold hard explosive story that I could not hope to guess the ending of. Same goes for Peter F Hamilton's story. I've read only a few things by him, and it's been a bit hit and miss - I think because he often verges on, or is outright, horror - but this one, set in our solar system but many, many years away, is amazing: the changes to humanity necessary for survival, the uncomfortable conception of maternity, and the outrageous version of a bad roadtrip. The final story, by Peter Watts, is a fairly uncomfortable place to end the anthology - it absolutely works, but it's a grim view of the future, and one that feels if not plausible then at least imaginable. 

This is a highly enjoyable anthology with a good range of stories; I've only covered maybe half of them here. The theme is broad enough that you'd almost not know that the authors were writing to a theme, except for all the time things go wrong. Many of the stories are long enough that they get to develop their worlds and characters a bit more than in a short-short. Definitely one to read if you're after some wide-ranging SF. 

[(╯`▭´）╯︵ ǝɔnɒꓷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, my overall enjoyment of these stories was more of a two star rating all around, because I was pretty bored for the most part. However, I will say I think this mainly had to do with the fact I don't read a lot of hard sci-fi. I like more speculative sci-fi (if that's a thing), something that's not too hard to jump in and understand the technology and concept. Despite this, I do want to get more into reading hard sci-fi, and I thought short stories were a good way to do this because I wasn't diving into a full-length book where I was more than likely going to get incredibly lost. And while I was bored, I did find I really enjoyed the concepts of these stories and was frustrated that I wasn't able to get more of these worlds that were being shown to me. The more I read of this collection, the more I was beginning to understand and even appreciate what the others were doing. I'm not saying I'm now an expert on hard sci-fi (absolutely not), but the book has sparked a new interest and desire to dabble more into the genre, which was the whole reason I picked it up in the first place.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The theme of this anthology of original stories is “life-threatening engineering problem in space”. (The editor admits he got the idea while watching “The Martian”). In that sense it's a throwback to the old SF stories that featured clever people coming up with a technical fix that saves themselves (or everybody else). However, these are top-notch writers who were invited to contribute, and the quality and complexity is very high. There are also some interesting twists that you probably wouldn't find in the old stories.

This meaty book (450 pages) is good for reading a story or two when you have time, then coming back and reading a few more later. The information and technical density of these stories means that you probably won't blast through the book quickly, but it's a great companion to pick up when you have a little free time and want some intelligent SF that you can absorb in a short time.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strahan is quickly becoming one of my favorite anthology editors; a man capable of assembling impressive contemporary talent. This collection is themed around emergency in space, in the Apollo 13 style "Failure is not an option" improvisations. It's an inspired prompt, one that allows a crew of genre masters to rapidly develop setting and character and throw them into the ringer. Special award to By The Warmth of Their Calculus by Tobias Brucknell for a resolutely analog spacefaring culture, and one that tells the classic short story The Cold Equations to get stuffed.

I found two stories unreadable, which brings this down a peg, but it's hard for an anthology to bat 100, and with short stories, there's no harm in bailing.

[Rob Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most anthologies are filled with “hits and misses”, but for a collection that a) had a cool theme, b) had an evocative title, and c) had a pretty kickass cover art, this one really failed to deliver – especially in the first half. The hits came in at the tail end via the works of Carolyn Ives Gilman, Allen Steele, Peter F, Hamilton, and Peter Watts. Overall it was a pretty unwhelming aggregate of work.

[Lia Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

ive said it before, Jonathan Strahan puts together some of the best hard scifi anthologies out there and this one was a smash hit start to finish showcasing 15 stories by 15 extremely talented currently writing scifi authors.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent Jonathan Strahan edited collection with stand out stories by Peter Watts, Linda Nagata, and John Meaney.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it!

[Frederick Gault · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dandy collection of Sci-Fi stories where the common thread is a hopeless situation.

[Bruce Harpham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this short story collection at the Strand Bookstore in New York City. It first caught my eye because of a few familiar authors – Peter Watts, Greg Egan and Peter F. Hamilton. I very much enjoyed the premise of the collection: people are on a mission, something goes terribly wrong and then how to recover from it?

If you enjoyed “The Martian” by Andy Weir, in particular, you’ll love this collection.

Here are a few quick notes on some of my favorite stories:

This is not the Way home by Greg Egan: A winning lottery ticket gets you a honeymoon to the Moon but then all communication with Earth stops. What do you do next?

By The Warmth of Their Calculus by Tobias S. Buckell. This title of this story grabbed me immediately as it reminded me of Greg Egan’s enthusiasm for math. In this story, we have a classic adventure dilemma of limited resources while traveling in space and the human drive to change those numbers.

The Empty Gun by Yoon Ha Lee. A fun mashup of the classic revenge story and a fresh science fiction (science fantasy?) take on the monkey’s paw concept.

Genesong by Peter F Hamilton. Combining themes of long term space travel and advanced bio-engineering, this is a long burn revenge story.

The Agreement by Dominica Phetteplace. What makes people go into space and endure the great sacrifices involved? The answer lies in “the agreement” (revealed in moving prose in the final paragraph).

Mutata Superesse by Jason Fischer & Sean Williams. It starts as fast moving military science tale rescuing some people. Yet, the solider are not quite what they seemed.

Cyclopterus by Peter Watts. An adventure at the bottom of the sea, set in a near future where the climate apocalypse is in full swing.

[alpacaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Not the Way Home, Greg Egan ⭐⭐⭐

Rescue Party, Aliette de Bodard 0️⃣ (I've stopped even trying to read her stuff. Awful. It's always awful.)

Devil in the Dust, Linda Nagata ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hanging Gardens, Gregory Feeley ⭐⭐⭐

The One Who Was There, John Barnes ⭐⭐⭐⭐

By the Warmth of their Calculus, Tobias S. Bucknell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mutata Superesse, Jason Fischer & Sean Williams ⭐⭐

The Empty Gun, Yoon Ha Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genesong, Peter F. Hamilton ⭐⭐⭐

Something in the Air, Carolyn Ives Gilman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lost in Splendor, John Meaney ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Agreement, Dominica Phetteplace ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fires of Prometheus, Allen M. Steele ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ice Breakers, Kristine Kathryn Rusch ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cyclopterus, Peter Watts ⭐⭐⭐

[Durval Menezes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came by this book searching for more from Peter F Hamilton, and indeed his part in this collection (a short story by the name of "Genesong") does not disappoint: easily 4 stars. The others are a mixed bag: some are as good or even a bit better, while others were clearly not in the same league. Overall it was a satisfactory read, 3.5 stars is my rating (rounded down to 3 because it really isn't good enough for 4).

[Taldragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPACE IS DANGEROUS

The greatest threat, to those who dare venture among the stars, isn’t from aliens, or enemy nations, or cosmic forces from outside reality, but from the simple things on which our lives in space are built: the engines and control systems, the machines that provide our atmosphere, our gravity, even our food and water.

Mission Critical tells the stories of when things go wrong.

[Dorothy Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really great stories in this collection.

[Jim Shanahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a rather specific collection of short stories, each dealing with some event where things go wrong in space, usually on a ship. There were about three stories that I liked, from the fifteen or so, these being Something in the Air, The Empty Gun and The Fires of Prometheus. Overall, I didn't find it as easy to read as say something in the style of Tomorrow's Children, which was a really great collection of stories from the seventies. Many of the stories in this book were very hard to know what exactly was going on, they were so obscure or experimental in writing style. Overall I give it a two star.

[begemot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read:

- Introduction;

- “This is Not the Way Home” by Greg Egan - very good;

- “Rescue Party” by Aliette de Bodard - good;

- “Devil in the Dust” by Linda Nagata - pretty good;

- “Hanging Gardens” by Gregory Feeley - very good;

- “The One Who Was There” by John Barnes - well written, but it feels like the story is seeped in author’s sexist views. They aren’t so obvious, if the story is taken at face value alone (although the logic presented in it doesn’t really stand up on its own, so at face value it becomes a rather silly story). But if one starts questioning certain choices made by the author, such as the gender of specific characters (two female protagonists that are shown the “right” and “smart” way of doing their jobs by a male “boss” [although it’s unclear why director of media affairs would have such absolute powers over the researchers], while essentially being fired or demoted from their positions, and then seeing it as some sort of salvation they’ve never thought of themselves, because you know, the high demands of their previous jobs were too much for them to handle…), specific phrases and ideas that are repeated over and over (the head researcher blaming herself for not pushing against human presence in space, which would literally be eliminating her team, project, and job, the idea that a sensationalist reporter found the life of chasing after big stories too overwhelming, etc.), and the fact that the sort of stories that would constitute the bulk of the female reporter’s future work would specifically be “slice of life” stuff like births, weddings, etc., because human life needs that “human touch”… GRRRRR;

- “By the Warmth of Their Calculus” by Tobias S. Buckell - very good;

- “Mutata Superesse” by Jason Fischer and Sean Williams - good;

- “The Empty Gun” by Yoon Ha Lee - not bad;

- “Genesong” by Peter F. Hamilton - pretty good;

- “Something in the Air” by Carolyn Ives Gilman - the concept was interesting, but the character dynamics felt like something from 70s and 80s writing - men acting like patronizing, bullheaded assholes (one of them was literally referred to as “alpha male”) and the only woman, despite being an astrophysicist and mathematician, presenting as a hormonal hysteric with wildly irrational ideas (irrational in the sense that evidence for them was slim to non-existent, even though within the frame of the story they happened to be correct). Oh, and despite them all being light-decades away from Earth on an important research expedition, half of their focus is on the previously failed relationship between one of the men and the woman. And despite her continuously observing how she doesn’t like pretty much everything about this guy’s personality, the story ends with her coming around to being in awe of him because of his show of “bravery” (which consisted of going after the other asshole into the dangerous territory after they’ve just determined how dangerous it was and that something was actively trying to kill them), which he of course did against her judgement at the time. This all wouldn’t be surprising if the author were male. The fact that a woman still writes women and men this way is rather disappointing;

- “Lost in Splendour” by John Meaney - very good;

- “The Agreement” by Dominica Phetteplace - good;

- “The Fires of Prometheus” by Allen M. Steele - pretty good;

- “Ice Breakers” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - not bad;

- “Cyclopterus” by Peter Watts - pretty good;

- About the Authors.

[Raj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this anthology: of things going wrong, and going wrong quickly, and the people who have to deal with those situations and comes out the other side. There's a lot to enjoy here. It displays its mission statement with a strong first story, This is Not the Way Home by Greg Egan, involving a space tourist trapped on the moon when contact with Earth disappears. This is followed up with a very different take on the idea in Rescue Party by Aliette de Bodard, set in her Xuya universe. This one posits the idea that people can be removed from society and "stored" to be used as living memory banks, if their cultural impact or worth is judged to be more important than their individual liberty, and the rescue party that comes to help the protagonist.

Other highlights include John Barnes' The One Who Was There, which sort of snuck up on me. You start off thinking that the protagonist is a journalist who's never been to Ethics, only interested in the story around the Saturn system, before it expands and shows you something much more nuanced. I enjoyed this a lot by the end. Then there's Mutata Superesse, a fun first-person story with a rapid-response soldier/paramedic dashing in to rescue some colonists who're in over their heads, and spinning some yarns as they go. The Fires of Prometheus is a story about first responders dealing with someone who just wants to die on Io, but the rules won't let them leave him alone. It's a poignant piece with some nuance to it.

I don't think there's any particularly bad stories in here, although some worked better than others. Some of the misses for me included Hanging Gardens about attempts to terraform Mars, and the children who get caught in it; Genesong which was just a bit grim, involving a pirate attack that kills almost everyone on a ship that was capturing an asteroid to bring back to a terraformed Venus; and while it's not exactly bad, Cyclopterus isn't the story I would have chosen to end the collection with, set in a post-climate change planet, where the megacorps are still intent on wringing all the profit they can out before it all collapses.

Strahan has a good eye for pulling the right stories into his themed anthologies. If you like a a bit of disaster-porn, you can't go wrong with this one.

[Jim Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very good anthology from Jonathan Strahan, this one features very good stories by Greg Feeley, Peter Hamilton, Aliette de Bodard, and others.

In Greg Feeley's "Hanging Gardens," Mars is being bombarded by comets as part of a terraforming project. Some worked live in shelters on the ground, while overhead, orbital cities -- the hanging gardens of the title -- house the ruling class. When a comet hits too close, a group of children escape in a pod. It's an exiting story of their trek, combined with a complex undertone of what's really going on and who the children should trust.

Peter Hamilton's Genesong features a terraformed Venus, and a group of "mothers" sent off in Sheppart Tree (their huge ship) to trans-Neptune space to bring back an asteroid to further efforts on Venus with needed materials. On their way back, they are ambushed by pirates, and only one survives, but she, deep in hiding, plots revenge and saving the ship. Hamilton can be a powerful writer. I find his novels often good, but in need of editing, but his shorter works can be very imaginative and well done.

Yoon Ha Lee's The Empty Gun is also a story of revenge, this time revenge the goes very wrong. Kestre's entire House is wiped out, and she gets a weapon -- an artifact of the war humanity had fought against aliens long ago -- the empty gun, which seems to fire and kill whoever she aims at without the need for loading. Things get out of control as she winds up killing more and more people who get in the way, only to eventually find out where the ammo is really coming from and what that's causing.

I could say more about the other stories. All are at least good, and several are very good and will be on my Hugo ballot. Recommended.

[Sara Hollingsworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection. I'm not a huge fan of short stories. I find it's just difficult to get into a short story. It's so compressed and contained that I just have no interest in the characters. That said, there was a few stories I particularly liked. Rescue Party by Aliette de Bodard was particularly interesting. Actually, some of the terms and the name seems oddly familiar. I get the feeling I may have read a short story by this author before.

I also quite enjoyed Devil in the Dust by Linda Nagata. I actually would be interested in a longer novel with these characters and world. There was some interesting concepts here and I wanted more of the characters and the world building. It gave me a bit of a Day After Tomorrow vibe without the Groundhog Day aspects. The whole soldiers fighting an impossible war vibe though was strong.

Mutata Superesse by Jason Fischer & Sean Williams also should get a shout out for it's weird format. Still, it was the most entertaining in terms of humor and I was intrigued by the concept behind it. This was one of the few stories out of the collection that felt suited to being a short story.

And lastly, Something in the Air by Carolyn Ive Gilman was the kind of the weird speculative science fiction that I tend to enjoy. The concepts are rather more edgy than some of the other stories, but I always did like the more intensely theoretical stories. Especially if the concepts are explained well and I think this one did a fairly good job.

Anyways, the rest of the stories were okay. I didn't hate them or love them. They were just short little bites with little else to define them. The four above stories are the ones that just really caught my attention, and I may keep an eye out for their names.

[Vladimir Ivanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Очень люблю антологии НФ от Страхана, но эта попытка у него вышла откровенно неудачной. Заявленная тема ("в космосе что-то пошло не так, и простой инженер пытается спасти ситуацию") в половине рассказов вообще не соблюдена, зато практически всюду строго выдерживается тема "ГГ — женщина, желательно цветная". Такое ощущение, что предисловие здесь от одной антологии, а все остальное — от другой.

Впрочем, проблема не в феминистической подборке, а в том, что тексты просто слабые.

Гамильтон в очередной раз доказал высокий класс. Юн Ха Ли порадовал своей любимой космофентези. Аллен Стил и Кристин Кэтрин Раш выступили с добротными историями в жанре "случай на производстве", а-ля пилот Пиркс. Ваттс выдал нечто невразумительное на тему "Земля загажена и умирает, неприятные люди сражаются за последние крохи ресурсов, а теперь давайте поговорим страниц 10 о добре, зле и морали, ну и хватит, конец рассказа". Все остальное даже вспомнить затруднительно, какой-то хоровод из гордых и независимых китаянок, африканок и вьетнамок.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

“This Is Not The Way Home,” by Greg Egan: 7.75
- A workmanlike exercise in the mechanics of sf short fiction (the scenario windup, the emotional stakes, the follow through [with less interest than longer sf works would take in the Big Picture lying behind that scenario (ie what’s happening on earth)])—no less enjoyable for it, and only diminished when placed in the frame of other Egans, and the high-concept, tight-rope walk of deeply felt (often morally concerned) hard sf on display therein. It’s not at all fair for this story, no matter how belatedly flattering for the earlier ones; and it is not at all avoidable either. The alternative, I guess, are the soft bigotries of low expectations. And there be dragons indeed.

[Mackenzie Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was almost a five-star book. But after an anthology full of stories where people pull together in moments of crisis and often put the collective good above personal comfort or safety, setting the most grim and cynical tale as the closer felt not only jarring but like a betrayal.

Normally a quibble over story order would barely be worth demoting a book by one star, much less two. The story in question is well-written, and if it had been somewhere in the middle, I think I would have barely noticed it. But as the closer, it left a taste in my mouth so bad that it even tainted the other stories when I went back to reread a couple of favorites.

Still entirely worth reading, but you might not want to follow the editor's chosen order.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mission Critical is a selection of science fiction survival stories by a variety of authors. Right to the point, I found the stories to be uneven. There were a couple of stories I enjoyed, but there were the same number that caused me to glaze over. Perhaps I am not cut out for reading short stories. A mediocre three of five on Goodreads.

[John Devenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most themed anthologies this one is a mixed bag of stores ranging from poor to very good . The better stories seem to come in the second half of the book. Standouts for me were Yoon Ha Lee, Linda Nagata, Allen Steele and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
3 1/2 stars